Self-Reflection 2
Eliut Lopez-Enriquez
Millersville University
Moral distress comes in many ways to many nurses. My moral distress situation came about when an unresponsive patient came to the emergency room and the family had a Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate paperwork. I was the primary nurse; the house supervisor was present to ensure that the proper paperwork was at hand. After verification of the paperwork and talks with the family, the team stood by to ensure the patient no further suffering and no further distress felt by the family. After assessing the patient, a second nurse confirmed agonal breathing and oxygen saturations at 57% on room air. I noted that …show more content…
While I, as the primary nurse, was tied up in the code process, the charge nurse and the house supervisor should have step up and follow the chain of command and bought in the next higher level in the physician chain of command. I should have been more assertive in pushing the issue and making sure that I kept communicating with my chain of command. While I did communicate, I feel now that it was not enough on my part. I should have passed primary to another nurse and maybe try to gain a higher level of communication with the physician so he can see grasp what I was trying to communicate and ask him to stop the code. In the future in a situation like this, I will assert myself stronger and ensure that the physician actually hears and understands what I am reporting to him so he can have a clearer picture of the patients medical history. One thing I added to my practice is to review the actions with the physicians as a learning tool and to see how we can improve on patient care, code smoothness, and increase the communication among the code team actively in the code. I will also keep in mind this situation so that I do not fall into a distress issue like this and build upon what actions I can take in the next
Eliut Lopez-Enriquez
Millersville University
Moral distress comes in many ways to many nurses. My moral distress situation came about when an unresponsive patient came to the emergency room and the family had a Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate paperwork. I was the primary nurse; the house supervisor was present to ensure that the proper paperwork was at hand. After verification of the paperwork and talks with the family, the team stood by to ensure the patient no further suffering and no further distress felt by the family. After assessing the patient, a second nurse confirmed agonal breathing and oxygen saturations at 57% on room air. I noted that …show more content…
While I, as the primary nurse, was tied up in the code process, the charge nurse and the house supervisor should have step up and follow the chain of command and bought in the next higher level in the physician chain of command. I should have been more assertive in pushing the issue and making sure that I kept communicating with my chain of command. While I did communicate, I feel now that it was not enough on my part. I should have passed primary to another nurse and maybe try to gain a higher level of communication with the physician so he can see grasp what I was trying to communicate and ask him to stop the code. In the future in a situation like this, I will assert myself stronger and ensure that the physician actually hears and understands what I am reporting to him so he can have a clearer picture of the patients medical history. One thing I added to my practice is to review the actions with the physicians as a learning tool and to see how we can improve on patient care, code smoothness, and increase the communication among the code team actively in the code. I will also keep in mind this situation so that I do not fall into a distress issue like this and build upon what actions I can take in the next